it works with your asthma medicine to help improve lung function. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems and doesn't replace a rescue inhaler. it's proven to help prevent asthma attacks. severe allergic reactions can occur. get help rigight away r face, mouth, tongue or throat swelling, wheezing or trouble breathing. tell your doctor right away of signs of inflamed blood vessels like rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in limbs. tell your doctor of new or worsening joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop steroid, asthma, or other treatments without talking to your doctor. when you can get more out of your lungs, you can du more with less asthma. and isn't that better? ask your doctor about dupixent, the most prescribed biologic in asthma. and now approved as an add-on treatment for adults with copd that is not well controlled, and with a specific marker of inflammation.

it doesn't even look like a house anymore. it just looks like a. right now at five devastation in southern california, as more than 100,000 people are out of their homes. many of those homes reduced to ash and rubble. and sadly, the death toll associated with the fires has risen. the latest on the conditions this morning, and how crews are trying to keep up with fight. well, i think president carter and rosalynn carter deserve all the respect and that the world can muster. and the nation prepares for its final farewell to jimmy carter. we're live in washington with preparations ahead of this morning's funeral service. this is today in the bay. good thursday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. and i'm marcus washington. we begin with a desperate situation still unfolding in southern california. at least five people

are dead as those widespread wildfires continue to burn on a massive scale. the largest, by far, is the palisades fire. it's being fueled by the santa ana winds, and it has spread to more than 17,000 acres. bay area crews are joining in the firefight as dangerous winds continue to fuel the flames. and here's a live look at the eden fire burning in altadena. now, the flames are also proving to be a challenge there. the fire leaving a devastating trail of scorched homes as it spreads rapidly through those neighborhoodss today in the bays kris sanchez joins us from san jose. she's got some of the latest developments. some progress is being made. but this is still a very tough battle for first responders. right. and that's the reason why san jose city firefighters joined a strike team that headed over to southern california overnight. they're among 50 strike teams that the l.a. county fire chief was calling for. that means hundreds and hundreds of extra

personnel. now, a new fire sparked just overnight, even before this extra help could arrive there. this was in the hollywood hills. and even as those first two fires were exploding in size, firefighters had to point their attention at this one. the good news here evacuation orders there have been dropped. now our local crews will join exhausted la area crews on the front lines, some of whom have already lost their own homes. this is the eaton fire burning in altadena and pasadena, where at least five people are now confirmed dead. now in all, at least 100,000 people are under evacuation orders across the city and the county, including inhe palisades fire zone, where the l.a. county fire chief said that there is a high number of people who were injured because they didn't evacuate in time. a bit of hope out of the worst fire in the san fernando valley, where firefighters were able to gain some containment. and that is the good news here this morning. now, firefighters

from san jose, sunnyvale, santa clara county are among the latest to join the fight. they are committed for up to two weeks. oakland, san francisco, fremont, alameda and contra costa counties also sent firefighters along with firefighters from oregon, nevada and washington state. we have camping gear. we have everything that we need to be self-sufficient for 72 hours and also to camp out in thehe dirt f we need to, depending on where the fire front is. now, with those santa ana winds expected to continue to blow into the weekend, we know that this firefight continues to be tough. so good luck to our local firefighters who are headed out there. and there is a california community fund that is already set up. and lawmakers, as well as other people, are urging people to make a donation if you can. i'll post that on our social pages and also on nbcbayarea.com. it's the california community fund in san jose. kris sanchez today in the

bay. it's just so devastating to see everything. thank you chris. seeing so many community members and businesses come together to provide services to a lot of folks out there. i want to head over right now to meteorologist kari hall. no, kari, you've been tracking this wetter weather, the wind speeds. that's something that we're seeing reduce in all of this. yeah, the wind is calming down, but that doesn't mean that we're still in the clear when it comes to all of these fires that are burning in southern california. just to give you some perspective of where the four largest fires are burning at this point, and as we take a look at wind speeds, they're still at 30 to 40mph even this morning, which is expected to continue into the afternoon. and it's blowing offshore. so that's that very dry wind with extremely low humidity. and look at friday morning. we're still looking at 50 mile per hour winds around santa clarita and thousand oaks and calabasas, 61 mile per hour winds. so we are definitely not in the clear just yet. it's still going to be very breezy into much of the weekend, and

then eventually starting to see some slightly higher humidity, but unfortunately, the window of a calm wind is not that big. we're going to see another boost in the winds coming in on sunday, and they'll be right back up to about 50 or 60mph, so this may be a prolonged threat of these high winds. we'll talk more about it coming up in a few minutes. back to you. kari. thank you. well, americans paying their last respects to president jimmy carter. want to give you a live look this morning outside of the u.s. capitol building in washington, d.c. this is where the 39th president is lying in state inside the capitol rotunda. he's the 13th president to do so. friends, family, and dignitaries from around the world are expected to attend the funeral. this morning, the national cathedral. we'll bring you live coverage of that coming up for you during our 6 a.m. hour. now, in the meantime, today in the bay's chris pollone. he's live for us on capitol hill this

morning. and, chris, the entire natition will be observing this. yeah, absolutely. mark, it's always a spectacle and a solemn occasion when a u.s. president is laid to rest. you know, president biden declared today a national day of mourning for the longest living u.s. president in history. throughout the night and into the early morning hours, mourners by the thousands came to the capitol to pay their respects to president jimmy carter. each with his own reasons for coming. i think president carter and rosalynn carter deserve all the respect and that the world can muster. it was a minor sacrifice on my part, you know, to fly up here in the cold weather. they waited in line for hours in frigid temperatures, just to spend a few moments with a president who touched their lives in some way. i definitely revered the man. i mean, he's definitely done a lot, you know, as a human being. and for the world. throughout the day, political leaders and celebrities joined the masses. the president elect and his wife, a supreme court justice.

artist trisha yearwood and garth brooks, who will sing at the late president's funeral at the national cathedral. today, president biden will deliver a eulogy for his late friend. and after that special air mission, 39 will take the 39th president home to georgia for a private service at the church where he taught sunday school for decades. then burial next to his beloved wife, rosalynn. as they waited, mourners reflected on what they'll remember most about jimmy carter. decency. i think that's the adjective everybody uses for him. respect. selfless. willing to do what was right, even if it wasn't popular. now, a nation prepares for its final farewell to a former president and jimmy carter's vice president and friend. walter mondale also wrote a eulogy for the late president. but mondale died in 2021, so his son ted,

will read his father's tribute to jimmy carter at the national funeral. coming up in just a little bit. marcus touched so many people while in office, but also after office there. chris pollone for us in washington. thank you chris. and today is a national day of mourning. as such, federal offices will be closed along with the u.s. stock markets, but federal workers will still be paid. banks and schools will remain open. nbc news will have full coverage of the former president carter's funeral starting in our next hour. it's scheduled to begin roughly at 630 this morning, at which point. today in the bay will stream online. you can find it at nbcbayarea.com or wherever you stream. 508 right now, taking a live look outside at downtown san jose. looks nice and clear out there. carrie's got a look at our forecast for today. it's definitely cooler this morning now that the wind is calming down in some parts of the bay area. you're waking up and heading out to temperatures in the 30s. it's only 36 right

now in sonoma. 3 in santa rosa. and it is 39 in fremont, south san jose, 38 degrees. and we're also seeing those upper 30s in the south county. but when we compare what we're seeing versus what much of the rest of the country is dealing with this morning, it's in the 20s, even teens, and we're seeing single digits up around detroit. and much of the country is dealing with a plunge of some extremely cold air. but at least we do have a nice rebound with highs in the mid to upper 60s heading into this afternoon. mike, where are you seeing those lower gas prices? kari we're going to start with our best price in contra costa county. it's at 355 in concord. at concord super stop on willow pass road. next up we'll go to the north bay. vallejo is the north bay rep with a low of 359 at central gas on springs road. and finally in the south bay. cupertino is best is 363 at aria gas and market on stevens creek boulevard. so some subtle changes, hopefully some

better changes on gasbuddy.com for your area. on the roadways. green sensors dominate the maps right now early, but we've seen the monday and tuesday had a return to that volume this morning. very light right now. and just the last few minutes we've seen these sensors on eastbound 37 light up, remember, closed from 9.m. until five the next morning for the remainder of these weekdays here, the rest of the bay shows a smooth drive getting toward the bay bridge. not a concern right now. and across the span. and easy, steady, smooth, clear drive into the city. back to you. all right. thanks, mike. 510 right now. one of the tragic byproducts of any large wildfire is the impact on animals and pets. coming up next on today in the bay, the urgent rescue efforts now underway in southern california to help so many animals in need. and the ways you can help. and a new source of inflation. why the fed is worried about price hikes. that's ahead in business news. also this device nothing like your average desktop or that computer system at your job. in fact our nuclear stockpile relies on it. today's

celebration for a new supercomputer at livermore lawrence

513. we are taking a look at morgan hill. it is now at 34 degrees. it is a cold start this morning. all clear and a calm wind, and we'll stay in the 30s through 8:00, but with lots of sunshine will gradually start to see those temperatures warming

up. we're headed for the upper 60s today. we'll take a look at all of our microclimates coming up. wow. consistent right here. this live look at oakland shows the freeway, the nimitz, probably upper 60s and clear and moving calmly through the area. we'll watch as the commute builds. so far, no drama. we'll check out to see how the forecast is slow down, see if they're showing up this morning on time. well good morning. very happy thursday to you. so the numbers on the board are frozen today. the markets are closed as part of the national day of mourning for president carter. the wall street journal reports that constellation energy will attempt to buy out calpine. calpine has a lot of energy plants here in the bay area, including that natural gas plant along 101 in coyote valley. looks like president biden will call for more restrictions on nvidia chips beyond just a sale to china. the white house could announce as early as today it will limit the number of powerful ai chips that can be sold overseas, even to friendly

countries. bloomberg, the first to report that full allies like canada and australia, most of europe, can buy all they want. the fed once again worried about inflation, and while it's not naming names, it's worried about inflation caused by donald trump's policies. two specifically, the deportation of hundreds of thousands of workers, which will drive up labor costs and huge tariffs trump has promised against canada, mexico and china. tariffs are inflationary. the federal open market committee on tuesday released the minutes from its most recent interest rate meeting and said they were worried about, quote, stronger than expected readings on inflation and the likely effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy. and finally, we get the big jobs report tomorrow. also the. tomorrow, the u.s. supreme court will hear emergency arguments over the ban on tiktok. tiktok is set to cease to exist a week

from sunday. its parent company, bytedance, will try to argue the ban is a violation of american free speech. american lawmakers worry china is using tiktok to spy on americans. one thing to keep in mind as we listen to these arguments, none of this has ever been proven. none of this has ever happened that we are aware of. so while you can have a side, you know, whatever side you want, the thing that everyone's worried about has never happened. so people are just basing it on a theory. the fear and the legitimate fear, perhaps, but it is something that's never happened. all right. thanks, scott. you bet. well, happening today, leaders in science and technology will help dedicate a new brand new supercomputer at lawrence livermore lab last november, we first told you about el capitan. its 7500ft in size, and it will help scientists ensure the safety and security of the nation's nuclear stockpile by using three dimensional high resolution simulations. it's about 20 times faster than its

predecessor, a supercomputer called sierra, and it's expected to have a lifespan of about five years before the lab will have to swap it out with new technology. well, of course, the situation in southern california we've been following it is so, so tragic. not just for families, but for the animals and pets that are needing care. yeah, those animal shelters right now overwhelmed the pasadena humane society. this is near the epicenter of the eaton fire has already taken in more than 300 animals, workers say unfortunately, many are coming in with burns and injuries and must be treated in its icu. now, the shelter, already working with other shelters across the state, and it's in need of donations to help with that care. oh goodness. and they're going to have so many other animals, whatever, whatever we can do to help. hopefully if some got separated, they can reunite afterwards. yeah. power of social media to see yesterday trending on social media was the baby deer that was walking just looking so disoriented. it's so it's really hard, you know, to kind of watch it l unfold.

it's our california. yeah. you know. all right. well here we know that the weather conditions there have been really rough with the winds. and we had some winds here too. we've had some breezy winds. it still continues for the hills. and as we're taking a look at what we are seeing this morning, it is all clear and the wind is calming down as we take a live look outside in san rafael. visibility clear as well. it's going to be a dry and mild day. and for socal, the red flag warning continues through tomorrow evening. so for the bay area, we'll look ahead to the weekend when we are possibly going to see those winds picking up and increasing once again. so here's a look at some of the top wind gusts we had in the san gabriel mountains. we had a northeasterly wind at 100mph, malibu getting a peak wind at 85mph. and at the burbank airport, it was 83, in the chino hills, 77. and we even had some very high wind gusts in the north bay at mount saint helena.

and so we take a look at what the conditions were, as we're still seeing those santa ana winds that remain gusty through tomorrow morning. but it's also been very d, only measuring 0.16in of rain since october 1st, as well as the poor air quality. so people in the area, of course, of the fires have to wear an n95 masks. but when we compare the rainfall that we've had in northern california in the north bay, santa rosa has measured 26.07in of rainfall since the water year began, which is double the normal value. but for la, it's only 4% of average. as we talked about going back to the start of the water year, it will be very dry and continued the breezy winds into the afternoon 40, 50, 60 mile per hour winds throughout the day. and then looking at more of those winds into tomorrow morning, still remaining at about 20mph here in the bay areas fairly calm in the valleys, but some of our hills

and mountains are still getting those high wind gusts that will continue throughout today. and as far as rain, when we could see some more. once again, it's going to be a while, so we're going to have high pressure in control. only one very slight chance of rain toward the end of next week. so a lot of sunshine in the 7-day forecast and above norm temperatures. we're in the upper 60s today, which is about ten degrees above normal and maybe close to records in some spots. going into the weekend, it will be slightly cooler, and we are expecting the wind to pick up by the end of the weekend into monday, with more sunshine for san francisco and also warm temperatures. mike, you're saying is everyone back to work this week? that's the question i'm getting. and you know, people are back. not everyone remember a college like cal. they're not back in session just yet. so there may be fewer people commuting. and thursday and friday see a lighter commute than earlier in the week. so right now things are very calm across the bay bridge. we will have the metering lights on, but things yesterday were much les

significant as far as the backups go than monday and tuesday. we are just now in the last two minutes seeing slowing, just a brake taps off of merritt island. so typical pattern showing up for 37. we'll expect these sensors to show some yellow right there into baypoint and pittsburgh in the next few minutes. no drama at the bay bridge. good stuff. vasco road at speed. look at this. the altamont pass looks a little lighter as far as the slowing goes. must be lighter. volume of traffic. if we time it out, we have a great drive right here in the middle. that's 18 minutes. just up another minute over the last few. so there's a volume that's starting to build out of contra costa county grantline road. it was at 22 minutes but looks like the volume starting to build. so a little bit later start coming off of our farther commutes right now. back to you. thank you mike. well next here on today in the bay, a new chapter for the city of san francisco. but in the words of harvey, harvey milk, you have to give them hope. hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow. danielle laurie sworn in as the new mayor. ahead here on today in the bay. the packed

celebration following his inauguration and his promises to the

celebration. look at the massive crowds out there. this was last night in chinatown. that's where thousands attended the celebration for new mayor daniel

laurie. it would include a show by grammy, grammy nominated electronic musician and san francisco native dj zhu. the new mayor last night also helped light some fireworks outside the far east cafe on grant street, before addressing arowd of roughly 800 supporters and dignitaries inside. i'm feeling very calm. i'm feeling like, okay, it is a new era here in san francisco, one that is going to be defined not only by change, but accountability. attendees at the reception included police chief bill scott and attorney general rob bonta, who both promised to work closely with the mayor in response to his emergency declaration to combat the fentanyl crisis. i definitely feel that there's a lot more progress that will be made. you know, we'll see with the emergency order when that happens, it can speed things up to bring those to bear here in san francisco to work on tackling some of the organized

criminal groups involved in peddling fentanyl. thehe same wh human trafficking, with gun smuggling and gun trafficking, hate crimes, organized retail crime. in a separate address at the public night market, the crowd applauded when he said nobody should define the city. but san franciscans. 526 for you this morning next, here are the top stories we're following today, including developments down in southern california. the latest on the destruction from the southern california wildfires, and an update on the weather conditions, which actually eased in severity overnight. but will it last? the final farewell to president jimmy carter. the local tributes being paid by the habitat

it sits up right now at 530. southern california families in shock and disbelief after losing their homes among the tens of thousands of evacuees. some have already learned the worst. we're there on the ground this morning with the latest developments. also in southern california, new images providing a better sense of sheer destruction and a stark difference at ground zero of one fire depicted just hours apart. and the final goodbyes for president jimmy carter. his procession is set to get underway within the hour. we're live this morning with how the

bay area is honoring our 39th president. this is today in the bay. 530 on your thursday morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. and i'm marcus washington. well, first to the wildfires raging in southern california. overwhelmed first responders are now dealing with a new fire that sparked yesterday. one of them, a fast moving fire in the hollywood hills. this was near the hollywood sign that had a lot of people nervous. mandatory evacuations were quickly ordered, but those have now been lifted and that fireoses no threat at this point. here's a map of the largest fires burning at this hour. the palisades, eaton and hearst fires. so far, there are five confirmed fire related deaths, all in the eaton fire. we have a live look at the palisades fire, which leveled pacific palisades. cal fire right now says thousands of structures have been consumed. now, this will no doubt be the

most destructive fire in los angeles history. we get the latest from the ground now from reporter lauren coronado. we're in altadena right now covering the eaton fire, which has burned more than 10,000 acres overnight. an apartment complex appears to have burned. this is where we're at right now. just one example of the ongoing situation on the ground. we know dozens and dozens of homes have burned. and even now, at this hour, we're continuing to see the firefight. right now, you're looking at crews from lockwood fire, which is from monterey county, just north of us. so you can see this is an all hands on deck situation. just one of the fires burning here in socal in the l.a. county area. we know there are a lot of fires burning around us as well. heavy smoke in the area. and i want to show you we're actually going to utilize the light here from this fire engine. and these folks are from jackson valley fire

district. apparently. i want to let my photographer, rene luna, know to be careful. there are palm fronds on the ground, a lot of debris. and here is the situation we're dealing with. you can see the damage left behind. again, this is just one example. we know businesses have burned. the destruction is really overwhelming. and we know that in pacific palisades, we're dealing with a lot of destruction out there as well. it's just an intense firefight that is still very much underway. we understand we're finally getting some help from aircraft when it comes to the firefight. that's such a vital situation. it's such a vital strategy in stopping the flames from spreading. but this is the current situation here in altadena, where folks who are evacuated, who are in the evacuation warning zone as well, have been asked not to drink any water, not to treat the water. that means no filtered water or boiled water. they're asking folks just to drink bottled water. that includes for cooking

as well. we're staying on the ground and we'll keep you posted throughout the day. reporting here in altadena. i'm lauren coronado. thank you lauren. let's go to meteorologist kari hall. she has been monitoring those wind conditions there. look, the thing about it is the wind gusts. they're definitely lowering, but they're not out of the clear just yet. no. and when we talk about lowering wind, it was 100mph. so at 50, it's still roaring. okay. and so we have that top wind gust there in the san gabriel mountains, 100mph. malibu 85, burbank airport 83. and the chino hills at 77 and 84. even in the north bay and mount saint helena. so this was a very extreme wind event. and take a look at the current winds there. it's at 49, so it's still very windy. and what we would consider very critical for fire development and spread. so that is still going on. taking a look at the red flag warning that will be in effect through 6:00

tomorrow. so there's still the very low humidity, that high pressure that's been flowing across the sierra and into the mountains. and as it flows down the mountains, that air is compressed and warm and dries up as it moves through the desert and then flowing down the canyons, it creates those very strong winds and that high fire danger that continues through tomorrow. so we'll continue to watch that. laura marcus. all right. thank you. kari. well, new before and after satellite images giving a clearer picture of the sheer devastation down there in southern california. now you're looking at the before image of one neighborhood. this is near ground zero of the eaton fire. it is the one burning near the in altadena, north of pasadena. now, here's how it looked as those flames tore through that same area tuesday night. another image to show you a separate altadena. this is a neighborhood just a few blocks away. the image also from monday. here's that same spot. those flames spread through

early yesterday. so far, five deaths are now confirmed in the eaton fire. some 10,000 acres have burned. and we also are monitoring the wildfires there in southern california online. any time, make sure you stay up to date by downloading our free nbc bay area app as well. it is 535 a short time from now, the nation says a final farewell to president jimmy carter. his funeral service this morning will take place in washington's national cathedral. today in the bay bob redell joins us live in the east bay this morning. and bob, locally, habitat for humanity is also honoring his legacy. you are correct. good morning children. first off, many cities in the bay area are also honoring the legacy of president jimmy carter by flying their flags at half staff. you can see the large red, white and blue. here in downtown livermore, where we're at at the intersection of south livermore and first street, where the flag has been flying at half staff for several days now. and yes, the habitat for humanity east

bay silicon valley chapters will be putting up memorial doors for people to sign and show their respect for president carter and the respect of the amount of work he did for that organization that builds homes for people in need. that organization says this is a, quote, recognition of how his efforts open doors to brighter futures for thousands of habitat owners, homeowners for four decades. there are two dodd locations, one at the amphitheater at oakland city hall, the other at the east plaza of san jose city hall, avaible for signing between 9 and 9 and four today. now, president biden declared today a national day of mourning for the longest living president in u.s. history, president carter, who died on december 29th at the age of 100, has been lying in state at the capitol rotunda in washington, d.c, since tuesday afternoon, where thousands of mourners have paid their respects to the 39th president of the united states of america. i definitely revered the man. i

mean, he's definitely done a lot, you know, as a human being. and for the world, decency. i think tt's the adjective everybody uses for him. respect. selfless, willing to do what was right, even if it wasn't popular. it's not just the decoration. president biden will deliver a eulogy for his late friend. after that, president carter will be flown back to his home state of georgia for a private service at the church where he taught sunday school for decades. then burial next to his beloved wife, roslyn. reporting live here in livermore. bob redell today in the bay. national day of mourning for him. thank you very much, bob. 5.37 happening today. a man accused in a vicious bart train stabbing is due in court for his arraignment. police say giovanni torres stabbed and critically injured a 54 year old

woman. it happened in early november near the 24th street station on an antioch bound train. officers arrested him the next day. police say the suspect has a long criminal rap sheet. he's facing attempted murder charges. also today, a peninsula man accused of murdering his wife due in court for a plea hearing. this happened december 18th. police say 33 year old juan garcia stabbed his wife several times in their home during an argument. he is being held without bail. it is 5.38. taking a live look at san francisco right now. it is a cooler start this morning. kari got a look at our forecast. yeah, we're making plans ahead traveling to the sierra. this is a live look at palisades tahoe this morning. very cold temperatures and quite a bit of snow still on the ground despite the warm temperatures. and we are going to be in the upper 40s for tomorrow and then dropping down on saturday with a chance of snow on sunday. so just a heads up that you might need to

plan ahead with the travel and when to get back to the bay area in monterey. we're going to have some mild temperatures throughout the weekend and mostly sunny. highs in the mid 60s for saturday and sunday. and if you're going to be enjoying some time in sonoma valley, enjoying how lush and green everything is right now, it's going to be in the low 60s for highs and overnight lows in the low 40s. now, mike, you have a delay getting to the oakland airport. yeah, i'm standing over our look at 880. the roadways are fine getting to oakland airport bart for the second day, talking about a delay for their shuttle from the main bart station at the coliseum over to the airport itself. sounds like only half of the frequency is going on. you can take ac transit bus 73. they'll give you a break there as an alternate. meanwhile, on those roadways across the bay, san mateo bridge takes you across at the end of 92 at the interchange with north 101. sounds like there's a crash that may be affecting a couple of lanes approaching the connector. i see a little slowing showing up on the sensor, so we'll track that with

chp. the south bay does show a little build. north 101 in san jose. as you would expect approaching oakland road. over here, we have a new crash westbound 80 around el portal. no slowing. a little bit of slowing shows up in the area. traditional for richmond. we'll track that. here's highway 37 with your little bill there. highway 4. there you go. just a couple of blips coming in through concord. back to you. all right. thanks, mike. 540 right now. coming up next on today in the bay. more coverage on the southern california wildfires, including concerns that it's raising here in the bay area. sins that los angeles leadership is now facing about preparedness when it comes to the wildfires down south. how people in the bay area feel and consider the fire danger here amid fire station closures. we'll have more up ahead. and of course, president biden promising anything that california needs. plus, remembering

in san jose. nice and quiet. a calm wind and also all clear. but temperatures have dropped and it is cooler this morning compared to yesterday. we'll still be in the mid 40s at 8:00 and at noon we're back up to the mid 60s. headed for 68 degrees today. we'll take a look at the warm and dry weather in our microclimate forecast coming up. i'm here at the bay bridge. the metering lights not yet active. that indicates a lighter volume of traffic down the east shore

freeway and the maze. there is some slowing off another bridge, the san mateo bridge. we'll talk about what's going on in the peninsula side coming up. thanks so much, kari and mike. it is 544 right now. back to the breaking news. we're covering out of southern california and the destructive wildfires. this is a live look right now at pacific palisades. look at the homes. they've just been going up one after another. the palisades fire has burned more than 17,000 acres. entire neighborhoods have been wiped out. the bay area strike teams are already providing a helping hand on the front lines. and all of this no doubt hitting home for a lot of those victims of previous bay area wildfires, some of which were also historic. today in the bay's ginger conejero saab is live for us in san francisco this morning and ginger, latest tragedy, no doubt triggering new conversations about fire safety as well right here. that's right. marcus and laura and our hearts go out to everyone that is impacted by the devastation

in southern california. and, you know, , it makes us think about what we go through here in northern california because we see our fair share of wildfire danger as well. it begs the question, are we prepared or can you ever really fully prepare for something of this magnitude? those are some tough questions that los angeles leadership is facing at this point. amid the devastation that we see from these wildfires. it's also in light of approved cuts to their fire department by city hall. la mayor karen bass is facing those questions specifically about an $18 million budget reduction that she approved last year. now, just last month, la's fire chief warned the decision would diminish the department's ability to prepare for and respond to large scale emergencies. mayor bass has said the cuts did not impact lafd response, and a spokesperson for la fire reaffirming the mayor's stance. this is an absolutely unprecedented event. we have you

know, we have another fire that just broke out. any fe department, even our size, is stretched thin. now, these wildfires come just days after two bay area fire stations temporarily closed. that station 25 and 28 eight, both in the oakland hills. and that's to help with the city's nearly $130 million budget deficit. the closure for station 28 is slated for six months, but people who live close by are uneasy with the closure. the kohler fire sparked in the oakland hills last fall, while more than 20 years ago, in 1991, a deadly fire destroyed homes in the oakland hills. now, with these closures, people who live in oakland hills grass valley neighborhood say they feel their closest fire station is about two miles away. now, oakland's fire chief has acknowledged that these closures could impact

emergency response. that's really when seconds matter. now there is a new council member that is representing that area, ken houston. he says that he will make it his priority to get station 28 reopened as soon as possible. he w just inaugurated on monday and so that is on his top of his priority. it's hard to see why not. marcus and laura. yeah, it brings to mind for everyone to be prepared. thank you very much, ginger. well, president biden actually has canceled a trip to rome so he can monitor the fires now from the white house. scott mcgrew is with us this morning. and, scott, this is going to be a very personal trip for the president. yeah, it was now canceled. he had some business meeting with the new italian prime minister, for instance. but he was also to meet with the pope. something very important to the president. he's only our second catholic president in american history. yesterday, the president was ■in southern california, where he met with governor newsom for a fire briefing. he promised, quote, anything and everything california needs to fight the

fires and help the survivors. overnight, fema announced new low cost loans and grants to help with repair and temporary housing. a very different tone coming from president elect trump, who went on social media to blame californians for their situation and claim fema is out of money. it is not. trump met with republicans from the house and senate wednesday night to plan their legislative strategy. republicans in the house want to pass one single giant bill. with all of president trump's priorities inside, but republicans barely hold power in the house. and one defection, especially over spending, could defeat the bill. for that reason, many republicans in the senate want more than one bill. this great unity, whether it's one bill or two bill, it's going to get done one way or the other. i think there's a lot of talk about two, and there's a lot of talk about one, but it doesn't matter. the end result is the same. we're going to get mething done that's going to be reducing taxes and creating a

lot of jobs and all of the other things that you know about. but this was a really unified meeting, and i want to thank john and everybody for. it was a great turnout. john, is john thune, the new senate majority leader? mr. trump and the soon to be first lady also took time to pay their respects to president carter, lying in state in the capitol rotunda. they joined tens of thousands of regular americans who made the trip to the capitol to say goodbye to the 39th president. it's kind of the least we can do for him. i'm going to cry now. he was a wonderful, wonderful person. decency. i think that's the adjective everybody uses for him. respect. selfless, willing to do what was right even if it wasn't popular. other news, elon musk said wednesday he might not

be able to cut $2 trillion out of the federal budget. after all, that might be closer to 1 billion. he said he made the trillion. he made the comments on a voice chat on x. there are a lot of promises made during the campaign that are about to come true or not come true. president elect trump repeatedly promised to bring down grocery and gas prices, and promised both to cut the price of electricity in half and the price of car insurance as well as well to end the war in ukraine. he becomes president a week from monday. marcus. all right, scott, thank you. 550 for you this morning. important new data for job seekers trying to make it in the bay. wallethub is out with a new list of best u.s. cities to find a job. researchers looked at 182 of america's largest cities. scottsdale, arizona, ranks first, with pittsburgh, pennsylvania, and columbia, maryland, close behind in the

bay area. san francisco ranks 18th. silicon valley sits in the top quarter. oakland and santa rosa are squarely in the back half. the metrics include cost of living, starting salaries, and median household income while it holds kris. lupo says that bay area leads everywhere else when it comes to average starting salaries and pay rates in the large chunk of the nation are not keeping up with inflation. while there's a robust job market there, there still seems to be a significant segment of the population that's maybe working a maybe 1 or 2 pay levels below what their what they should be, what their qualifications would indicate. now listen to this. he also says that you stand a better chance of boosting your salary by changing employers. and the best source for jobs are still finding them through personal networking. so, you know, i guess so what? you know. yeah, i know who do you know? who do you know? you sit tight right here.

good. all right. let's look at let's look at the forecast for today with kari. yeah. just got some new information on the drought monitor. and it's really no surprise that we are seeing the drought worsening in southern california, as well as much of the south. the southern part of the country. as we take a closer look at california, we were in a moderate drought. but now that has been upgraded to a severe drought from ventura county all the way down to san diego. so we are seeing that orange highlighting, indicating a severe drought. while much of the east bay and south bay are currently under abnormally dry conditions as those fires continue. we're monitoring the air quality and for the bay area, it's starting to get a little bit worse. we're looking at some moderate air quality today, pretty good for the south bay, but we could possibly at times see some hazy skies and also a few drifts of smoke as the wind calms down and some of that smoke starts to settle across the region. temperatures this morning are ranging anywhere from mid 30s to mid

60s. it really just depends on how fast those winds are gusting. and the higher winds tend to create that friction in the air and warmer temperatures. and then in the valleys where the wind is calm, the temperatures are dropping into the upper 30s and low 40s as you're heading out the door. and then we're all going to warm up significantly and well above what's normal for this time of year, with highs in the upper 60s, even low 70s for santa rosa, san francisco today will see a high of 66 and 66 as well for dublin and 68 for san jose. tomorrow is also going to be very warm for what we typically see for this time of year, and that also continues throughout much of the forecast as we get some rain just to our north of us going into the next several days. but then it's all clear, and none of that rain makes it to the bay area through much of next week. so our 7-day forecast shows much more sunshine and temperatures about ten degrees above what we usually see for early january. and then for

tomorrow. it's going to be in the mid 60s and sunny, and we may see the wind picking up again for the weekend. so we'll have to watch out once again for that high fire danger for socal and for the bay area. it's going to be gusty, which could also cause some issues for san francisco. it's going to be a nice and mild weekend with lots of sunshine. and mike, you're saying the metering lights are active now. they weren't activated until about five minutes later than your normal time on this thursday. we're looking at a smooth flow of traffic right now, but the backup is starting to form in the middle. so typical pattern again just a little bit lighter a little bit later. start for this commute on thursday. we see a couple of incidents over here coming through el portal. there is a crash at el portal for west 80, and just before that a disabled vehicle. that's where we see a little bit of slowing. so watch it as you're coming around the bend in toward richmond. a smooth drive, but still a little bit of slowing for highway 37. sticking about the sasame as we saw about ten minutes ago at mare island. a little more volume for highway four, a little more slowing, but no problems. once you pass by

242 and get down in toward pleasant hill 680 corridor. smooth down through the east bay. 880 coming over towards san mateo bridge is fine on the east bay side. peninsula side. we have a crash activity at west 92. approaching 101. two lanes are out because of a crash there. no major injuries, but this is a persistent slowdown we've seen over the last 20 minutes. prepare for that. farther south, the dumbarton bridge is just fine getting to and from highway 101 either north or south, north 101 through san jose. typical slowing right here as you're traveling north of six 8280 up toward oakland road. now it's 555. we typically see things start to ease up, but this is the slowdown we've seen. start a little bit later. again, that should clear up over the next ten and then come back about 645 again tomorrow. later this morning, vasco road, still only at 23 minutes out of contra costa, county down to 580. back to you. all right, mike, thank you. well, happening now. santa rosa police are trying to piece together how four people ended up dead inside of a mobile home. officers discovered those bodies yesterday in the valle vista mobile home park on monarch

court. now, they were there to conduct a welfare check after relatives could not reach any of them for several days. so far, investigators are not saying how the people died, adding that there is no risk to the public. we continue to monitor the devastation in southern california ahead at 6:00. an all new update on the firefight, and the latest on new fires that sprang up as firefighters were already maxed out. and don't forget nbc bay area streams 24/7. you can watch us whenever you'd like on roku or other streaming platforms. a lot more news ahead on this thursday inrning. you're watch

it doesn't even look like a house anymore. breaking right now at 6:00. devastation in southern california as wildfires forced more than 100,000 people from their homes, many of those neighborhoods are now reduced to ashes and the death toll is rising. we have the latest conditions as desperate firefighters try to get the upper